BigBarn’s foody view on some of the news

Savings to be made by buying local food
Observer; Brits are working to save money within their households: 67% are buying more generic brands; 46% are bringing their own lunch to work; 31% have cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions; 33% have cancelled or cut their TV services. Finally, 22% have stopped buying coffee on the way to work. Observer

BigBarn has over 750 icons on the BigBarn local food map marked with a ‘£’ to mean cheaper than the supermarket. This is to correct the common misconception that supermarkets are cheap for everything. They are not.

On average for every £1 spent on food in a supermarket farmers get 9p. If these farmers sell direct, or through a local retailer, they get more that they would through the supermarket but still charge less than the supermarket retail price. For more on this click to see the BigBarn video.

So save money by shopping locally and ask your local shop about good deals. We recommend you change your shopping habit to local every week and the supermarket once a month for tins, washing stuff, etc. You will also save money by not being tempted by offers, DVDs, and other items you don’t really need.

Food to increase life expectancy
Science; The US spends more on healthcare than any of the rest of the OECD countries, at 17.4% of GDP in 2009. France spends 11.8% and the UK spends 9.8%, while Japan spends 8.5%. Yet life expectancy at birth in the US is 78.2 years, versus 81 for France, 80.4 for the UK and 83 for Japan.

Surely diet is a contributor to this huge spend and life expectancy. A country famous for Burgers, fast food, coke, doughnuts and supersize portions must spend more on health and have a lower life expectancy that one famous for garlic, red wine and cooking fresh ingredients.

Perhaps our health service is more efficient than we think and that we are starting to eat better food. Certainly, the number of cookery programs on TV show a growing interest in good food. Let’s keep it going and improve still further by finding fresh seasonal food using BigBarn.